Is having a tulpa something scary to have?

[TinTinTheGreat]

Recently I found out about tulpas and am somewhat interested in what they are. I have discussed with a few people about tulpas and they’ve helped solved most my questions. But what I’m wondering is having a tulpa something scary to have? When you first found out about your tulpa was it scary? I do know tulpas and mental illnesses are not related at all. But to me having another voice from yours is daunting. 

[Reisen]

Well, it usually takes a lot of time and effort to start hearing that voice, so by default you're anticipating it. And then, often people have positive feelings towards their tulpa-to-be, so they're more excited or happy than anything else to hear from them, though it's of course likely to be a weird or surreal experience the first time too. And then...

 

You generally get to know your tulpas as well as or better than your family, so it would be weird for it to be weird to hear from them. If anything, this question is more befitting to people who didn't create their tulpas on purpose (before finding out about Tulpamancy). I don't think people are usually "scared", because it's rarely a surprise foreign voice and more something that just naturally happened/came to be by thinking about them, but I guess the moment someone realizes the voice/character talks on their own, that could be a shocking realization?

But even then, many writers who practically have soulbonds (basically another term for tulpa-like entities, often from fiction) just naturally work with their characters to write the story or such, without thinking about whether it's weird or not. So I guess the answer is basically no, accidental tulpas often come into existence by the host being very familiar with who they would be, while intentional tulpas, well, were intentional, so you'd be anticipating having a tulpa.

 

I suppose any given day a tulpamancer may randomly think, "Man, it's crazy that I have another person in my head!", but I don't think that's much different from "Man, it's crazy that I'm talking to people all over the world through the internet!"

 

It might be truly shocking to experience the internet for the first time, but if you were already aware of it going into it..? Anyways, experiences may differ. Tulpas speaking feels more "alien" to some people than others, but generally everyone gets used to it pretty quick.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Reisen

[Guest]

Not at all scary, and not at all a problem to start and nope out of it if you do get weirded out. 

[GrayTheCat]

When I first realized Ranger wasn't a normal imaginary friend, I was stressed out but I wasn't terrified. Even with our issues with intrusive thoughts, I wasn't scared of Ranger or thought he could hurt me. I was more concerned of the possibility I was crazy, but I was too busy searching variants of "adult imaginary friend" to fully process that thought.

 

Once I figured it out, I had more guilt and stress than fear. Eventually, things got sorted out and we got used to the idea Ranger was a tulpa.

 

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After your first tulpa, there's a risk your brain can automatically set up new "tulpas" because you now have the skill of tulpa creation. This is how people can get walk-ins. The best way to keep the gates closed is to ignore any new walk-ins you find and let them dissipate or refuse the possibility it can even happen in the first place.

 

This only is scary if you feel like you don't have control. A couple years ago, I was struggling with anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts and I feared I couldn't stop creating walk-ins. However, after 4 tries and reflecting that 3 of them had a motive behind them, I was finally able to stop. Even though I was overwhelmed by the idea of having lots of characters, at the time I didn't think they were tulpas, and that may have lessened the intensity of the experience.

 

If you have a mental health problem, it's possible you can have more trouble containing tulpa creation or mistake something else for "tulpas". In that case, it can be very scary.

 

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After my last tulpa Duck was created in 2018, we didn't recognize most of them as tulpas until June 2019. I and Ranger debated a lot about if they were tulpas or not, and that was really stressful. I was scared to talk to them because that could be me forcing them, but after beating around the bush I realized we would all be much happier if everyone hopped on board and move forward from there. While being a large system isn't easy, we are in much better shape than we were back then.

 

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There are scary stories out there about other people's experiences, but it almost always boils down to an underlying mental health problem being the cause of it. Sometimes drugs can have an alarming effect on your tulpas or your system, but it's rare and more likely to make things more difficult than outright scary.

 

Koomer and Oguigi is a famous example. To my best understanding, they agreed to the idea of Oguigi being the primary controller of the body despite the fact she was really young. The system created public panic when Koomer had trouble controlling the body again due to having not done so for a long time.

 

Some versions of the story I hear say Koomer was locked out and couldn't switch with Oguigi and Koomer dissipated her but apparently revived her? While I need clarification on these details, I do know they have been doing drugs and had depression. Most people point to this as the main problem but also highly recommend against having a young tulpa learn switching early on.

 

Other stuff you may hear about is a host being replaced by their tulpa. This situation is always depressing, the set up is the host wants to stop existing so they switch with their tulpa and self-dissipate by refusing to interact with their headmate or refuse to control the body again. The cause is always depression, sometimes mixed with dysphoria.

 

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The bottom line is if you're worried about having a bad experience, it's highly unlikely you will have any problems with the tulpa creation process unless you have an underlying mental health problem. People with mental health problems can still have tulpas and have an overall positive experience, but it's always healthier for the system if they are actively getting treatment and working with a medical professional. If you have a mental health problem like depression, remember that tulpas are not therapists and you may want to consider setting up treatment before creating a tulpa.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ranger

[Guest]

Adding to the tulpa replacing the host and whatever, this is usually, always a process that is reversible, even in rare cases where the original person is struggling to take control back. So no, that can be very scary but won't last forever. Losing control is always scary but it's less scary losing it to someone you trust (your tulpa) than losing it in the form of panic attack, dissociation, etc... so yeah, if you trust your tulpa, I don't think it'll be a scary experience.

[Matsuri]

Not scary if you know what it's all about, but might feel scary if you go in with the attitude of it being this mysterious unexplored thing that is super rare or something. It's all way too subjective to say. I quit just because it didn't seem to be for me after maybe two years of it, and made my trauma healing process even more difficult. It did do some good the time I was into it but it seemed to already have done it's thing, temporary coping to overcome short-term.

 

I recommend reading up on it a lot and be open minded, not only limiting your sources to tulpamancy but also reading more in general psychology stuff could help you with understanding and making it less scary and even more easier

 

Good luck

[SuruTheTwentySecond]

Right now I'm basically dealing with a walk-in making a large fuss about controlling my body. The bottom line is that because of my major scare, the system went through a process of isolation and power waning. My tulpas didn't have very much power and were beaten by the walk-in, or were in a bout with another one. I don't really know where they are now, but now I am dealing with two major oppressive beings who want control over my body.

Don't try tulpamancy unless you are absolutely sure you can handle it. Sometimes the fear of having a voice come in everyday will get bigger, and without a wonderland prior I think I must have had walk-in incursions coming in late into the months. I basically became remorseful of tulpas, and that adding into the stress of having tulpas and being with them, so no prior looking over without a clear mind could result in tulpas making walk-ins or you making walk-ins.